A nationwide survey shows Iowa high school students know a little more about handling money than their counterparts in other states. Susan McDonnell is a spokesperson for the Jump$tart Coalition.She says Iowa students scored 53-point-seven percent on the financial literacy test, which is above the national average of 52-point-three percent. But, she says they still get a score that would not be a passing grade. McDonnell says the test surveys students in several areas. Income, money management, savings, spending and credit. She says Iowa students scored highest on the income and spending questions, and scored lowest on questions about credit, money management and savings. She breaks down more of the survey results. She says females scored higher than males, white students scored the highest, followed by Hispanics and Asians. Blacks scored the lowest. She says students in households with income of 40 to 80-thousand dollars scored the best, those in households with incomes of 20 to 40-thousand dollars were next, and those with incomes below 20-thousand scored the worst. She says it’s the first time in four tests that students in the homes with the highest incomes scored the best. The coalition is made up of financial groups and McConnell says they hope to spur people to learn more about fiscal issues. She says one of the things they’re encouraging is to have parents work with their schools to get them to require a person finance course as a graduation requirement. McDonnell says students from 33 states took part in the survey, and 12 states had enough students take the test to break down individual results. Iowa ranked fourth among those 12.
Iowa's Radio News Network
